Sarah Palin

Debate Watching with Gov. Palin

Updated 12:10 a.m.By Perry Bacon Jr.
Aboard her campaign plane, after taking questions for the first time from the reporters who follow her every move, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the assembled press and two senior aides standing near her that she didn't want to watch the presidential debate "in my hotel room with just campaign staffers."

The campaign hadn't scheduled a debating watching party for her, but that plan quickly changed. After Palin spoke at a rally here, her campaign entourage of aides and reporters drove to a local pizzeria called Boli's on the Boulevard. Palin went casual, appearing in blue jeans and a purple windbreaker she had been given after her speech at the East Carolina University a few minutes earlier.

As she greeted the surprised crowd of more than 50 at the small pizza place, she posed for several cell phone pictures. When Dana Corey, who was about to start eating, realized Palin was there, he was on the phone with wife. He asked if Palin would say hello and the governor did, joking, "Libby, why is your husband here drinking beer without you?"

The Corey family lives in Wilmington, N.C., and Mrs. Corey explained to the governor that her husband was there because he was working on a construction project in Greenville.

As the debate started, the governor sat with Charlotte mayor Patrick McCrory, and the state's Republican senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, along with Burr's wife, as several televisions in the bar showed the Fox News telecast of the debate.

At the onset of the debate, Palin took out a pen and some paper. And for the next hour and half, along with chatting with the politicians, she often took notes of what the two candidates were saying. Interviewed after the debate, Dole said Palin was writing down many of their exchanges on energy, while Burr noted that Palin was "focused on what Barack was saying."

Perhaps like anyone else watching the town hall, the governor looked away at times and spent some time texting on her phone.

Corey came over to Palin's table, this time with his daughter, a college senior, on the phone. Palin greeted her too. Dana Corey said Allie enjoyed talking to Palin but was still deciding between Obama and McCain even after the Alaska governor pushed her man on the phone.

The dozen reporters with Palin were seated in a different section of Boli's from Palin, although we could see her throughout. She smiled at some of McCain's remarks about energy independence and took notes quietly when Obama spoke. At the end of the debate, her aides brought reporters over to Palin's table.

Asked how the debate went, she was enthusiastic as usual.

"Great. Great. It was a great night for America. He's proposing real plans that will work for economic recovery and energy independence," she said of her running mate.

"I think Barack was even less candid than usual," she added, not explaining exactly what that meant. "But McCain has fought on and sounded very energized and it was a good night for him.... It's gonna be a great 28 days to go. Taking this message of reform on the road and just having it resonate more and more every day is what I believe's happening. And it's good. It's very good. I look forward to the 28 days."

But Palin is aware of her ticket's political situation. Asked on the plane about her reflections from her first month on the campaign trail, she used a word she would repeat at the rally here: "underdog." That analysis may have been unavoidable, given that she was about to touch down in North Carolina, a state Republicans have won for decades but where polls show Obama effectively tied.

"I've been an underdog quite often in my life -- and so has John McCain. And we both have come out victorious," she said. "I anticipate that's what going to what we see at the end of the day on Nov. 4."

Comments

stellaooo..you might want to check the way your election vote is taken. They don't exactly have write in options on computerized systems. Though arguably computerized systems have been known to be tampered with, you might have to contact your local election office to determine how to cast a ballot for someone not officially on the ticket. Wishing you luck.

Posted by: klooutlaw | October 8, 2008 6:44 PM

Sen. Barack Obama clearly won last night's debate.

Republicans for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008.

Posted by: runfastandwin | October 8, 2008 5:18 PM

Capricorn1 has it right. The governor of Alaska is a vindictive, singleminded, ambitious, vengeful, narcissist, whose most important desire is to become President of the United States of America.

Political power in her hands is dangerous; she brooks no criticism or disagreement. Palin nurses grudges against associates and co-workers whom she punishes without a second thought, regardless of how long she must wait.

Sarah Palin is responsible for inciting racist threats against the life of Barack Obama. Her attacks and diatribes designed to confuse voters and create a false impression of Obama's character tells us a good deal about Palin's character: she distorts reality, delivers false statements and does so with no sense of embarassment or shame; rather with a great sense of ease.

The Anchorage Daily News is a source of information on the governor of Alaska. Palin is an accomplished politician who will stop at nothing to achieve her political goals. Palin is canny and clever while remaining unread and incurious. She lacks historical knowledge, preferring to fabricate "facts" as she goes along her merry poltical way.

Palin is fully self-aware, completely without remorse for any damage or harm she has inflicted on political enemies all of whom were once frieds she cultivated to advance her political career.

Finally, she is no "joe sixpack, hockey mom" middle-class "girl from Wassila. Her net worth is close to three million dollars. And she has yet to release all tax return information.

Sarah Palin is a prototypical Atwater-Bush-Rove Republican. Palin is a hypocritical public figure who should be exposed. The journalists and the main stream media must do their job better.

For anyone with a sliver of an open mind - go to factcheck.com to refute most of these lies and distortions.

Posted by: bethechange1 | October 8, 2008 4:04 PM

Were there accounts of any drining games being played at Boli's that evening?

Just a joke!

Posted by: flyinthe | October 8, 2008 3:52 PM

Can someone please ask Palin about Alaska's "refuge state" status? Her pastor says that the multitudes will flock to Alaska in the approaching apocalypse. Does she actually believe that?

The thought of this lady with her finger on the button sends shivers down my spine. Palin believes the end is near — let's not give her a chance to fulfill the prophecy.

Posted by: McBain1 | October 8, 2008 3:08 PM

ChristiansDrink said:

Teetotalism is not mandated by Christ or the Bible. It's mandated by twisted interpretations of Christianity. If you don't want to drink, don't. Just stop using it as one of your rules for being a Christian.

Please read my post more carefully. NOWHERE did I say that true Christians are not allowed to drink. I merely said that my family and I are Christians who go to pizza parlors without drinking beer. It is a personal choice for all of us, as my husband and I both have a history of alcoholism in our families.

If you will read carefully, you will see that Enlightenus is the one who equated drinking beer to acting less than Christian. My point was that the article did not say that Ms. Palin was drinking beer.

Posted by: GypsyMoon53 | October 8, 2008 2:46 PM

Voting for McSame is simply "Palin" stupid.

Posted by: fzelaya1 | October 8, 2008 2:37 PM

Oh I LOVE it. Don't politics make strange bedfellows? I bet Liddy Dole-she of the Watergate Complex and elegant DC restaurants- just LOVED drinking beer and eating pizza with the Palin trailer trash entourage. Bet she wishes that Palin could help the down ticket Republicans, since she's about to lose her Senate seat.

Posted by: smeesq | October 8, 2008 2:21 PM

ChristiansDrink & GypsyMoon53

You are right. Scripture says - be not drunk to excess - .
My point was that some of the 'Christians' following McCain seem to be against the 'drink' but they support a candidate whose wife traffics beer and the vp nominee is pictured (in a photo) with a pitcher of beer next to her.

Also, they think a woman can run the country, but according the southern baptist convention, they can't run a church of a few hundred. Women are not allowed to be pastors in that arena.

Posted by: enlightenus | October 8, 2008 2:09 PM

GypsyMoon53 said:

"By the way, being a Christian means trying not to spread false-witness (untrue rumors) about others. Comments like yours are how slander gets started."

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black? Why don't you apply what you've just written to Sarah Palin's words and actions?

Oh, by the way, at the Last Supper, those Christians drank. In fact, according to the Bible, if my memory is accurate, there were many instances where the first Christians, the Disciples, drank with Jesus. It drives me insane how so many uber-Christians have hijacked Christianity and are in fact practicing something entirely different from what Jesus, St. Peter and the rest of the Disciples preached.

Teetotalism is not mandated by Christ or the Bible. It's mandated by twisted interpretations of Christianity. If you don't want to drink, don't. Just stop using it as one of your rules for being a Christian.

Posted by: ChristiansDrink | October 8, 2008 2:00 PM

@MarkInAustin

"Under any FORMAL scoring method, both McCain and Palin won their debates. You are referring, instead, to popularity contests."

If your scoring method doesn't account for how voters scored the debate, then its pretty much useless as a metric. The only useful statistical measurement for these debates is: what did the voters think? If the voters think one person did better, then guess what - that person did better.

The entire underpinning of an election is WHO IS MORE POPULAR WITH THE VOTERS. It isn't called a popular vote for nothing.

"Formal scoring methods"... heh. Just for the sake of argument, please enlighten us on all the so-called "formal scoring methods" you are referring to, and then feel free to explain how under each one of them, McCain and Palin each won their respective debates. You'll excuse me if I don't hold my breath waiting for your response...

Posted by: ssergio | October 8, 2008 1:59 PM

nice person, but that alone isn't enough to be VP. McCain is playing her, and playing women everywhere. If I were her, I'd ditch McCain.

Posted by: maq1 | October 8, 2008 1:32 PM

Enlightenus said:

I find it interesting that Palin was in a bar with a picture of beer watching the debate and after the debate McCain left but Obama and wife Michelle stayed around 'fellowshiping' with the crowd... and the Christians by large support McCain. I don't get that.

I think the Christian-Right has Left God.

Please read the article again. NOWHERE does it say that Sarah Palin had a pitcher of beer (or a "picture of beer" either, as you put it,LOL). My family and I are Christians and we often go out for pizza; most of the pizza parlors serve beer, but none of us drink it. Sarah Palin merely joked with a Mr. Corey's wife on the phone about the lady's husband being there, drinking beer without her. So, yes, Mr. Corey was drinking beer. That does not mean Ms. Palin was.

By the way, being a Christian means trying not to spread false-witness (untrue rumors) about others. Comments like yours are how slander gets started.

Posted by: GypsyMoon53 | October 8, 2008 1:13 PM

Democrats for McCain-Palin? Don't make me laugh.

Posted by: carolab58 | October 8, 2008 1:01 PM

bushbudy:

Under any FORMAL scoring method, both McCain and Palin won their debates. You are referring, instead, to popularity contests.

Posted by: MarkInAustin | October 8, 2008 12:59 PM

"Democrats for John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008."

Only gets seven hits on Google. Mainly to Post chats.

I think that's "Democrat for"...

Posted by: aceofspades | October 8, 2008 12:36 PM

Sen. John McCain clearly won last night's debate.

Democrats for John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008

Posted by: hclark1 | October 8, 2008 11:29 AM | Report abuse

As a former McCain2000 county chairwoman who supports Sen. Obama let me explain what the above post is about. The campaign pays people to post as an outreach tool to different demographics. Notice how this poster never really posts anything except a soundbyte and a tagline. But, one of its main purposes is it lets Democrats who may not be strong Obama supporters know they are not "alone".
Let's say it triggers the human need for a "pack" mentality. The poster has never been a Democrat, and while they may be doing it from a state campaign headquarters as a volunteer, they have no connection with anything Democratic. It is all a mind game...but when you have a ticket like John McCain and Sarah Palin, your options are pretty limited.

Posted by: slamkitty | October 8, 2008 12:20 PM

I'm Afraid the Governor is delusional...as always.

Posted by: jdmsad | October 8, 2008 12:19 PM

I find it interesting that Palin was in a bar with a picture of beer watching the debate and after the debate McCain left but Obama and wife Michelle stayed around 'fellowshiping' with the crowd... and the Christians by large support McCain. I don't get that.

I think the Christian-Right has Left God.

Posted by: enlightenus | October 8, 2008 11:54 AM

Wow, people are really really stupid. "Democrats for McCain" exemplifies this to a T.

McCain did NOT win the debate. Palin did NOT win her debate. This is a FACT. Surveys clearly have shown that Obama won Debates I and II, and he will likely win Debate III. That's because he is smarter, calmer, and a better man than John McPOW.

You can have your own opinion, but facts are stubborn, and almost always Democratic. Obama won. He answered the questions. He addressed the nation directly. And he did not lie. McCain lied, over and over.

Posted by: bushbudy | October 8, 2008 11:50 AM

While reading sheryl7962 comments some how I thought they sounded familiar. Maybe it's just me but she kind of reminds me of Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I heard she's leaving the view and thought maybe she has taken her battle here. Fight on sheryl :)

Posted by: meandmike50 | October 8, 2008 11:36 AM

Sen. John McCain clearly won last night's debate.

Democrats for John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008.

Posted by: hclark1 | October 8, 2008 11:29 AM

Would someone please ask Sarah Palin to stop lying. When she lies she makes every hockey mom and Joe six pack look like lairs. We're not!

Posted by: fedupinpa | October 8, 2008 11:24 AM

I'm sure that after the debate Palin downed that whole pitcher of beer by herself and then another one and then another one.

Posted by: mrtutto | October 8, 2008 11:15 AM

Sheryl, instead of telling us what's "wrong" with Obama, why don't you take off the blinders and tell us what is "right" about your candidates. Why don't you try to persuade us by building your candidate up and NOT tearing the "other guy" down.

OOPS! That's right, you CAN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: davehershey01 | October 8, 2008 11:04 AM

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're
"exotic, different."

* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American
story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a
voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend
12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a
State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people,
become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human
Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate
representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131
bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public
Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real
leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second
highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left
your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month,
you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education,
including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the
fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with
no other option in sex education in your state's school system
while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very
responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position
in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
values don't represent America's.

* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude," with at least one DWI
conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote
until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the
secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely
admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Posted by: lsl7670 | October 8, 2008 10:42 AM

He have an interesting psychological dynamic happening in the electorate and it's apparent in some of the posts here. 8 Years of tripartite Republican rule and this nation and world are obviously falling apart. Many people in the country have noticed that the emperor has no clothes and are fleeing to the counterpoint in droves. Those folks that have owned a viewpoint of being Republican as part of their personal identity...are getting angry and desperate because undeniably people don't want to be wrong. Especially if that error is held deeply in their faith and belief system. They want the emperor to be clothed even if he is not.

So instead of admitting...even personally to themselves...that they might have been mislead by the GOP over so many years. They build up a dire amount of anger and angst and attack those that differ. Like cornered Mountain Lions...all will pay. The simple fact is that Obama only has a differing VIEWPOINT on what to do in our world crisis. He's NOT the devil, he's NOT a terrorist, he's NOT going to destroy the world and when he is elected the world WILL keep turning and the rapture WON'T come.

People need to not vindicate their utter existence simply by the views they hold. It's OK to have a differing opinion on how to do something...it really is. Voice your opinion...listen to other opinions...but don't stake your entire self-worth on it. That's, my friends, is the greatest mistake the GOP has made over the last 20+ years, fostering this ridiculous belief in their electorate.

Posted by: SWMissouri | October 8, 2008 10:38 AM

STILL INDECIDED TIS FAR IN THE GAME?

In past weeks many have come clean about having regrets over electing Obama vs. Hillary. Republicans have taken advantage and placed a woman with no senate presence or knowledge of the senate as vice-president clearly using her as a mere bait for the Elections. I heard some people say that they will write in Hillary Clinton in the November ballot ...I didn't know that was possible but given that I'm so unhappy with the candidates I decided to do the same. Now I’m wondering how many people will use a write-in for Hillary Clinton on the November Ballot. -(A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name.)

Even if it was unlikely that she could win at least I would be at peace with not given in a situation that has been forced from the beginning and all by voting honestly my way. If you can’t bring yourself to vote for any candidate this far in the game, if you are not satisfied with either candidate Obama or McCain you should vote for Hillary. Please pass on and post this info for others. You still have a choice.

Posted by: stellaooo | October 8, 2008 10:26 AM

Sarah Palin makes George Bush look like a scholar. Yes, I understand that she energizes "the base" - the base full of knuckle-draggers who think intelligence is too "elite" and higher education is a bad thing. The same base that gave us George Bush and his trillion dollar war, among other travesties. One question for all of you Sarah-worshippers: all other things being equal, if she looked like Janet Reno, would she be where she is today?

Posted by: SusanFromTX | October 8, 2008 10:23 AM

Is it me, or sheryl???? is the only one defending SARAH PALIN?

That itself should tell you that NOBODY LIKES SP! Instead of talking about the issues, she rather slam Obama. Instead of Obeying the Law, she wants to act as if she is above the law. Instead of Mccain being friendly towards Obama, He rather be snide, and Ignorant. I just want to know

If he can't shake Obama's hand, or Call him by his name..HOW ON EARTH IS HE GOING TO TALK TO LEADERS OF OTHER COUNTRIES?

Posted by: MsGunn | October 8, 2008 10:19 AM

You are saying it was an unplanned stop at a debate party, and two sentences later, Palin is accompanied by Dole and Burr. Unplanned? Were they on the campaign plane all the time? You must be kidding me.

Posted by: agayht2000 | October 8, 2008 10:13 AM

At least she can read and write!!!

Posted by: stew118 | October 8, 2008 10:07 AM

It is a real shame that Republican paid staff have time like Sheryl7962 have time to post trash here. They should be out looking for somebody to vote for the sick old lame coot McCain. Nobody here is. Sorry sheryl but your I{P address belongs to the Rep. committee. What a dolt.

Posted by: BradHansen2 | October 8, 2008 10:06 AM

Sarah Palin is smart to hide in a hotel room. She has her own domestic terrorist problem: HER HUSBAND! Her hypocrisy disqualifies her from ever being taken seriously.

Posted by: ssk9 | October 8, 2008 10:01 AM

You comment that Sarah assiduously scribbled notes at the pizzeria- actually she was continuing the trend of her bombastic comments on the stump by playing games of "hang man" with Steve Schmidt. The words included "treason," terrorist," "smear," and phrases like "lack of candor," and were chosen to inculcate the Palin-ator with the terms to be bandied on the stump today as she urges her Palin-philes to slur, sully, and threaten the Democratic ticket. No wonder she couldn't convince the construction worker's college daughter to vote for the McCainiacs!

"When I first heard of Sarah Palin I thought - Hmmm interesting. Then I found out she was 44. Me too!
Came from a small town. Me too! Has a disabled child. Me too! So I was very interested to hear what she had to say and tuned into her speech. I was disappointed. Palin's tone said it all to me. She was the mean girl. She was the woman who stole her friend's idea and presented it to the boss as her own. She is the woman who spreads office gossip she knows is untrue. She is the woman who pretends to like the female CEO and then talks about her behind her back and says she slept her way to the top.. She stands against everything that I hold dear : my freedom to choose, my love of this planet, my love for animals, my love for democracy, my right to healthcare, my love of peace, my right to the truth and my love of all books.
I am disappointed that there won't be a woman in the WH this time but I see Barack Obama as a person who understands all people - male, female, black, white, purple, disabled, religious and secular. I would much rather have a him in the WH than a woman just because she is a woman. I hope American women can look past Obama's sex to see the person. This is what we ask others to do everyday for us."

Posted by: capricorn1 | October 8, 2008 9:20 AM

I think I will consider the source on this one. Sad

Posted by: capricorn1 | October 8, 2008 9:17 AM

I thought the most important exchange of the night had to do with health care. Do we really want to government to run the health care industry?

Think about going to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the quality of service delivered...really, think about it.

Or, just look at the nationalized health care systems in other countries; the waiting lists for procedures are even longer than a DMV line. Now THAT'S scary.

No Nationalized Health Care. No Obama.

Posted by: cfa_mojo | October 8, 2008 8:31 AM

Palin was just studying up for her 2012 run. Which will be a disaster of epic proportions. She's fallen for the hype. She doesn't realize she's nothing more than a dumb bunny sock puppet. If (God forbid) McCain was elected, he'd appoint her President of Alaska and send her and her family of ignorant hillbillies up there to run the place. She'd never put two and two together.

Posted by: mwfree | October 8, 2008 8:27 AM

Is Palin still in the race? By November, her emotive cue-card reading will make her a bigger joke than she already is. I hope the Republicans make her their poster girl for the next few years--it will mean a string of Democratic victories.

Posted by: Azdak | October 8, 2008 8:19 AM

Sarah

Did you see robert gibbs take the fight to hannity last night? he exposed hannity, and I loved every minute of it. Hannityites don't take it personal hannity will be fine.

Posted by: r4147824 | October 8, 2008 7:41 AM

If you believe that this stunt at the pizza parlor was spontaneous, I have a bridge to nowhere in Alaska to sell you. Seriously? Pat McCrory, Elizabeth Dole, Richard Burr, and Sarah Palin just happened to pick a pizza parlor to watch the debate in, instead of continuing on to their respective destinations (remember, Palin, McCrory and Dole are in the middle of tough campaigns)? I thought reporters were supposed to exercise judgment and think for themselves.

Next time a campaign tries to spin spontaneity, stop and count heads. If their is a single campaign principle there, it isn't spontaneous.

Posted by: stuartw77 | October 8, 2008 7:32 AM

"Yes. I'm being racist towards those in the entire human race who depend on this fossil fuel commodity for their livelihood. That includes you. It also includes me. Any other questions?"

Yes. Are you really that shallow, uniformed, and frankly childish? How do you function as a human being when you sound like a person I would trust to make me a cup of instant coffee?

Posted by: espresso | October 8, 2008 5:07 AM

Sheryl7962: "Yes. How many miles did you put on your car last year?"

=> Under 5000.

"I turn off lights when not using them."

=> Good for you.

"I recycle or repair or donate rather than throw away most things. I live a pretty frugal life."

=> Good for you.

I'm with McCain/Palin and their "all of the above" energy policies.

=> Too bad for you. I'm still the racist against humankind, including you and me, as long as there is ANY dependence on fossil fuels for energy consumption.

Posted by: hgovernick | October 8, 2008 4:49 AM

Yes. How many miles did you put on your car last year?

Me: approximately 9,000

I turn off lights when not using them.

I recycle or repair or donate rather than throw away most things. I live a pretty frugal life.

I'm with McCain/Palin and their "all of the above" energy policies.

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 4:15 AM

Sheryl7962: Your question "Are you being racists towards Arabs & Persians who depend on this fossil fuel commodity for their livelihood?"

My answer: Yes. I'm being racist towards those in the entire human race who depend on this fossil fuel commodity for their livelihood. That includes you. It also includes me. Any other questions?

Posted by: hgovernick | October 8, 2008 3:55 AM

"the life forms brought to the brink of extinction as a result of humankind's continuing insistence on the use of fossil fuels to maintain its pathological obsession for "the good life"."

Are you being racists towards Arabs & Persians who depend on this fossil fuel commodity for their livelihood?

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 3:49 AM

About Palin's comment "I've been an underdog quite often in my life -- and so has John McCain. And we both have come out victorious":

I've lived in Alaska twice in my lifetime - once in Juneau, and once in Fairbanks. The real underdogs in Alaska are the life forms brought to the brink of extinction as a result of humankind's continuing insistence on the use of fossil fuels to maintain its pathological obsession for "the good life".

As a Marine Corps Vietnam Vet with a Purple Heart who ended up as an Admiral's driver for 15 months on the island of Guam, I seriously doubt that John McCain, son and grandson of Admiral's, has EVER been an underdog.

Posted by: hgovernick | October 8, 2008 3:40 AM

Obama’s resume:

NO leadership role in government local, state or federal
NO leadership in business
NO leadership in the military
NO organizations he founded or managed.
NO law firm partnerships.
NO important cases tried as a lawyer
NO work of legal scholarship has ever been published.

Obama hangs out with people who are racists and who hate America:
William Ayers, Rev. Wright, Fr. Pfleger, Khalidi.

Obama is being investigated for illegal campaign funds from foreign donors and from people who don’t even exist like Will Good, Doodad, and CBS has found even more that don’t even have names like XJDGPS
and GWSQTUS.

Obama supports infanticide and has said his first order of business is to
repeal the ban on partial birth abortions. I’m pro-choice and I find that a disgusting.

Obama won’t release his college records or thesis. This is unbelievable. I’ve seen more background digging into on people applying for a receptionist job than what the MSM and many in Americans have done on
Obama.

The American people are being dissembled by Obama and the media.

Someone said that electing Obama when the Democrats are in charge of the
Congress is like having a car with two accelerator pedals and no breaks.

If we go into a depression, Obama’s taxes and spending will be the death blow
to America’s already weak economy.

If Obama wins, I hope everyone likes soup.

Barack’s talking points:
I didn’t know Ayers was a terrorist!
I didn’t know my pastor of 20 yrs was an America-hating racist!
I didn’t know Rezko was a crook!
I didn’t know Raines drained Fannie of any life!

But trust me America I have the knowledge to lead this country!

We're screwed if this guy wins.

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 3:35 AM

"Sorry if I offend, but I am offended"

Hey folks this is what passive aggressive argument looks like.

And then there are the people who want to do her harm.....tar and feather her,

Sarah Palin has been vilified incessantly by the MSM & the Hollywood entertainment since the moment she was announced.

Actually and if we are going to bring in talking heads. I see your Richard Cohen and raise you Thomas Sowell. His view of Obama is far more damaging.

Obama has been swimming in a sewere in Chicago and he's about to bring it to the nation. Yeah good luck with that:

The Real Obama
By Thomas Sowell

Critics of Senator Barack Obama make a strategic mistake when they talk about his "past associations." That just gives his many defenders in the media an opportunity to counter-attack against "guilt by association."

We all have associations, whether at the office, in our neighborhood or in various recreational activities. Most of us neither know nor care what our associates believe or say about politics.

Associations are very different from alliances. Allies are not just people who happen to be where you are or who happen to be doing the same things you do. You choose allies deliberately for a reason. The kind of allies you choose says something about you.

Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, William Ayers and Antoin Rezko are not just people who happened to be at the same place at the same time as Barack Obama. They are people with whom he chose to ally himself for years, and with some of whom some serious money changed hands.

Some gave political support, and some gave financial support, to Obama's election campaigns, and Obama in turn contributed either his own money or the taxpayers' money to some of them. That is a familiar political alliance-- but an alliance is not just an "association" from being at the same place at the same time.

Obama could have allied himself with all sorts of other people. But, time and again, he allied himself with people who openly expressed their hatred of America. No amount of flags on his campaign platforms this election year can change that.

Unfortunately, all that most people know about Barack Obama is his own rhetoric and that of his critics. Moreover, some of his more irresponsible critics have made wild accusations-- that he is not an American citizen or that he is a Muslim, for example.

All that such false charges do is discredit Obama's critics in general. Fortunately, there is a documented, factual account of what Barack Obama has actually been doing over the years, as distinguished from what he has been saying during this election campaign, in a new best-selling book.

That book is titled "The Case Against Barack Obama" by David Freddoso. He starts off in the introduction by repudiating those critics of Obama who "have been content merely to slander him-- to claim falsely that he refuses to salute the U.S. flag or was sworn into office on a Koran, or that he was born in a foreign country."

This is a serious book with 35 pages of documentation in the back to support the things said in the main text. In other words, if you don't believe what the author says, he lets you know where you can go check it out.

Barack Obama's being the first serious black candidate for President of the United States is what most people consider remarkable but how he got there is at least equally surprising.

The story of Obama's political career is not a pretty story. He won his first political victory by being the only candidate on the ballot-- after hiring someone skilled at disqualifying the signers of opposing candidates' petitions, on whatever technicality he could come up with.

Despite his words today about "change" and "cleaning up the mess in Washington," Obama was not on the side of reformers who were trying to change the status quo of corrupt, machine politics in Chicago and clean up the mess there. Obama came out in favor of the Daley machine and against reform candidates.

Senator Obama is running on an image that is directly the opposite of what he has been doing for two decades. His escapes from his past have been as remarkable as the great escapes of Houdini.

Why much of the public and the media have been so mesmerized by the words and the image of Obama, and so little interested in learning about the factual reality, was perhaps best explained by an official of the Democratic Party: "People don't come to Obama for what he's done, they come because of what they hope he can be."

David Freddoso's book should be read by those people who want to know what the facts are. But neither this book nor anything else is likely to change the minds of Obama's true believers, who have made up their minds and don't want to be confused by the facts.

Copyright 2008, Creators Syndicate Inc.

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 3:27 AM

Why is it that the left wingnuts are becoming more deranged as the election approaches. Their fear & loathing makes
it necessary to keep sharp objects out of their reach. God knows what they will do if their messiah doesn't win.

Posted by: jbianco28 | October 8, 2008 3:13 AM

Sorry, but my first thought was I'm surprised the people didn't barf up their pizza. Can't wait until that horrid woman goes back to Alaska. Do they still tar and feather there?

Posted by: suhud | October 8, 2008 2:06 AM

McCain could not even get on to his chair to sit down on it. He just kind of leaned against it. Then realized standing beside it with his arm resting on the back looked like he was more in control of the chair. I think if he had gotten onto the chair he might of fell off.

"That One", was said by McCain as he had a brain freeze and forgot Obamas' name. Nothing more then that.

I think it would be a good idea for Presidential candidates over the age of 70 to have a mental competency examination.

However with McCain we don't even need that, he proved that he has issues by picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Like she said in her debate, to the effect of "being tapped by the Maverick." You go girl back to Alaska.
Wink, Wink

Posted by: gauthor | October 8, 2008 2:03 AM

Sorry if I offend, but I am offended that someone this unqualified is this close to presidential power. She needed to project leadership and knowledge, and what we got were winks and cute casualness. (No winking, by the way, is apparent in her 06 debates for Governor.) I am offended by her act and the double standard applied to her lack of qualifications. Funny you brought up Hillary. So did Richard Cohen in this paper yesterday:

"Can you imagine the reaction of the press corps if Clinton had given the audience a "hiya, sailor" wink? Can you imagine the feverish blogging across the political spectrum if Clinton had claimed credit for stopping a bridge that, in fact, had set her heart aflutter? What if she had shown that she didn't know squat about the Constitution, if she could not tell Katie Couric what newspapers or magazines she read or if she had claimed an intimacy with foreign affairs based on sighting Russia through binoculars?

Ah, but the scorn, approbation and ridicule that would have descended on Clinton -- I can just imagine the Journal editorial -- have been withheld from Palin. Much of the mainstream media, grading on a curve suitable for a parrot -- "greed and corruption, greed and corruption, greed and corruption" -- gave her a passing grade or better."

Posted by: Okonkolo | October 8, 2008 2:00 AM

"My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."

This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week.

Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that's the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless you.")

AIP chairwoman Lynette Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. "She's Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler."

So who is really paling around with Terrorists?
Who is the real enemy of the United States?
Sarah Palin does not see America the way you and I see America!!!

Hey folks, if you want to know what sexism looks like here it is in all it's glory.

Wow how proud you must be with this statement. What a deep thinker you are to call an accomplished woman into a servant.

Pathetic. I can see why Hillary voters were so disgusted in Obama supporters during the primary with language like this.

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 1:23 AM

McCain has been falling ever since the afterglow of Palin's convention speech was dowsed by her blunders. While she is very charismatic and very pleasing to certain elements of the conservative base, a majority of Americans continue to have serious misgivings about Palin backing up the oldest would-be President. And rightly so. She is talented but unqualified, and for all the firing up of the base, she worries many, and that reflect poorly on McCain's decision-making. I don't think her cocktail waitress turn at the debate helped either. Palin brings the feel-good but ultimately dooms an already doomed McCain.

Posted by: Okonkolo | October 8, 2008 1:18 AM

Both McCain and Obama seemed boring and I think that's because of Sarah. She is the real bright spot in all of this gloom.

Obama just droned on about numbers and just tried not to look like the radical he is.

McCain should've been hitting Obama on his bad decisions that make him unfit to be POTUS.

Obama is not a uniter because of his racist ties with Rev. Wright.

Obama is not bi-partisan because he's voted with his party 97%

Obama is not good on education (the civil rights issue of our day) because of his funding education projects to William Ayers who remains an anti-American hate monger.

Obama is not a reform. In fact, he dove in head first in the Chicago corruption racket with slum lord Tony Rezko and voter fraud, race intimidating organization ACORN.

Obama isn't fit because he won't even release his college records or thesis. If you were hiring someone for a job and they refused to release college records you won't hire them.

Posted by: sheryl7962 | October 8, 2008 1:17 AM

Let Sarah go back to Alaska and watch Russia for us. SHe is way out of her depth and so is McCain. Boy, is he mean or is he mean? I thought he was supposed to be good at reaching across the aisle. He'd rather step on Obama than even shake hands with him.

Posted by: taid | October 8, 2008 1:04 AM

reason11,
Palin is a moron and you know it. She has nothing to offer us, McCain made a blunder picking her. She's not going to change or get smarter, she's gonna be herself, a wolf, moose and caribou shooting hockey mom from the boondocks.

Posted by: tommyd60 | October 8, 2008 1:00 AM

Why are you giving this fraudulent campaign coverage? The woman won't answer any real questions, she KICKS people off her campaign plane, and having cowed the press, she feeds them alternate lines of scurrilous hatemongering, and insipid senseless phrases.

We the American public deserve better.

Posted by: thaimex | October 8, 2008 12:59 AM

This debate was a tie, and a boring tie at that. Obama didn't asert himself until the end of the debate, after McCain had discredited him with the normal BS. Obama loses on that. McCain was arrogant from start to finish, being his pompous self and crediting himself way too much. Obama wins on that. Neither one has any clearly defined plans that put my mind at ease.
It hasn't changed my humble opinion though, that Obama is the best choice. He has a great back up for VP. McCain has a hockey mom who can't speak clearly and is clueless on everything. Obama will prove himself to be a quick learner in these troubling times, and McCain will do what his contemporaries would do. But we're not in the Ronald Reagan years. It's not Gorbachev out there, it's a whole different ball game. McCain looks way to old to president, sounds way told and thinks way to old.
We need new blood, new thinking and new ideas.

Posted by: tommyd60 | October 8, 2008 12:55 AM

PALIN: MS HUBRIS, USA
In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of knowledge combined with a lack of humility. An accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow, similar to the occasional pairing of hubris and nemesis in the Greek world. The proverb "pride goes before a fall" is thought to sum up the modern definition of hubris. In reference to someone being in hubrity: hubrity is a fulfillment of being hubristic or a continual behavior of being prideful. Victor in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein exudes hubris in order to become a great scientist, but is eventually regretting this previous desire. Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play Dr. Faustus exudes hubris, all the way until his final minutes of life.

Posted by: nacnudbob | October 8, 2008 12:53 AM

Such progressive anger amonst these posters! After "the one" is elected, will you all show so much angst over who is allowed to rub the annoiting oil on his ba*l sa*k, and who is not?

Posted by: kcurry26 | October 8, 2008 12:40 AM

Loretoguy,
I highly doubt you are a retired Marine major, otherwise you would not have posted such ridiculous statements.

The Obama/Biden ticket are the scary ones on national security and the military. Biden is supposedly the "expert" on foreign policy and can't stop talking out of his behind.

So, please tell me WHEN Hez'bollah got kicked out of Lebanon?

I watched the first debate with a group of active duty military officers and they all LAUGHED at Obama and outright called him an IDIOT. None of them have ANY respect for the guy OR Blowhard Biden.

Gov Palin is new to national politics, but she is a fast learner. Just ask those who have served with her. And she's the VP, she's not expected to be up to speed on national security issues immediately -- it's not her priority or focus.

Sen Obama, however, is on the TOP of the ticket and doesn't know what he's talking about. Never hosted any hearings on Afghanistan. Never visited there, although he claims to be so concerned. And just recently went to Iraq, so he could get in some photo ops and burnish his creds.

Personally, I was enraged when I saw him in the USMC t-shirt. What a phony and an opportunist, willing to exploit the troops anywhere, anytime.

Shame on you.

Posted by: PWCGal | October 8, 2008 12:38 AM

The comments here are so one-sided and short-sided it's unbelieveable how far Wapo has fallen. No reasonable, intelligent people read it anymore. Liberals better learn to get used to it. Sarah is a force to be reckoned with no matter how much they dislike the idea. She is extremely attractive politically for a maority of Americans! She exposes the simple fallacies of their arguments. No matter what happens in this election she has a very bright political future.

Posted by: reason11 | October 8, 2008 12:38 AM

Please confirm for me that Palin's 15 minutes are up!!!

I can't stand hearing her voice, seeing her picture, etc.

Send her back to Alaska, and let the people who live there suffer under her stupidity just the way we have suffered under Bush's moronic rule.

Posted by: queenskid | October 8, 2008 12:16 AM

if mccain can't even trust palin to spin for him, how can he expect us to trust her to run this country if something happens to him? Actions speak louder than words, senator.

Posted by: JD071 | October 8, 2008 12:07 AM

Moose pizza less filling, taste great. ENOUGH go back to alaska, and don't step foot on the lower fourty eight.

Posted by: r4147824 | October 8, 2008 12:07 AM

Sarah Palin is a dangerous pit bull and she should be put down. I cannot stand the woman.

If John McCain is elected it won't be long before we hear Long live President Palin.

When that happens she'll be able to say 'Gotcha!'.

Posted by: robertjames1 | October 8, 2008 12:03 AM

In the past two debates McSame has not mentioned CHENEY WITH LIPSTICK -PALIN. YEP, she is a side show alright... a PIT BULL WITH A VIPEROUS, UNBRIDLED AND INFLAMMATORY TONGUE...

Posted by: LMM48 | October 7, 2008 11:55 PM

who in the world cares about Palin? - she's history- irrelevant & inconsequential -yet they keep writing drivel like this & we read it? she's a narrow shallow hypocrite (like the rest) yet refuses to answer real questions. so what's so interesting about that? the train wreck is over people. support a media boycott her until she resembles anything but a neocon hand puppet;

I'll take "That One" for President over the white-haired dude any day! Four more weeks . . .

Posted by: meldupree | October 7, 2008 11:19 PM

ionu - probably wouldn't have commented on their wardrobes, but also wouldn't have given them any credibility for winking during their debate... what a dope she is.. spare me - PRESIDENT PALIN??? I am terrified....

Posted by: clearlysue | October 7, 2008 11:18 PM

Okay, now we know where Palin watched the debate, what she wore, what she ate, and how she reacted to the debate. Now, where is the article about Senator Biden? If you're going to waste my time writing this kind of drivel, at least you could be balanced about providing such nonsense!

Posted by: marmac5 | October 7, 2008 11:16 PM

Is it me or has McCain NOT even mentioned his running mate, Palin, even once. He’s now keeping her in the Down Low. Is she going to be asked to leave the ticket? With McCain’s erratic behavior of late, it would not surprise me if she’s dropped from the ticket fairly soon.

Posted by: KaneMan | October 7, 2008 11:14 PM

Even Sarah must realize by now she has become a sideshow.

It's over.

Posted by: Smiling1 | October 7, 2008 11:13 PM

This woman is somewhere in outer space ... absolutely no attachment to reality. I hesitate to call her a "bi**h but her lack of knowledge is scary. As a retired Marine Major, I take huge exceptions to her lack of information on things "Military" or in the overall Foreign Policy area. She is a threat to every Military person and their families and loved ones. ' I can see Russia ' My God ... that statement alone is enough to sink McCain (for his judgement) and Palin ... FOR HER STUPIDITY, IGNORANCE and ..... well. you get my drift !

McCain repeatedly invoked the need for a "steady hand on the tiller" tonight--for someone who will be calm and cool in the crises that the upcoming years will present us.

Yet this is a man who is utterly unable to contain his contempt--even on a night when, even as Bill Bennett says, he needed to "break through", and even when such a strange expression of disdain could only highlight pettiness, anger and partisanship that voters wish that candidates would steer away from in the greater interest of the nation.

McCain's fundamental position--one from which he finds his momentum and meaning--is so often one of a contemptuous anger for those who do not understand what he has learned. In 8 years of a position that began with an angry, assumed knowledge, we have seen the results.

I am no fan of Sarah Palin; in fact, I think she's an embarrassment. However, is it necessary to comment on her wardrobe? Would you really have bothered to do this with any of the other 3 candidates?

Posted by: ionu | October 7, 2008 10:58 PM

"THAT ONE"

"That One" for the president of the United States.

Posted by: MILLER123 | October 7, 2008 10:57 PM

According to the CNN focus group reaction line, if it had been McCain's heart line on an ECG, he would be dead.

More people liked Obama and what he said, which is understandable.

What happened to Palin's red shoes? I would like to see Obama debate her, right before she withdraws from the race : )

blog.locustfork.net

Posted by: fast2write | October 7, 2008 10:45 PM

The fact that Sarah is required to campaign in NC shows just how far behind McCain/Palin is.

Posted by: Toddster | October 7, 2008 10:44 PM

Sarah is still not ready to be VP. In fact, I am worried for Alaska when she goes back to being Governor.

Posted by: Toddster | October 7, 2008 10:43 PM

It's "East Carolina" not "Eastern Carolina". If the writer was in Greenville that should have been obvious. Can The Post get anything right?

Posted by: VT517 | October 7, 2008 10:36 PM

She can skip watching this debate.

I don't think they are talking about Alaska at all.

As far as the energy questions/answers, sure she could answer that one...she always answers every question with an energy answer.

Posted by: ssanford00 | October 7, 2008 10:35 PM

Guess Liddy Dole was BUSY -- she's busy trying to save her own behind here in NC and hanging out with Sarah in a pizza joint isn't going to do it. It's not going to get the mayor of Charlotte elected Governor either -- that's what he's running for.

Posted by: isthisajoke | October 7, 2008 10:29 PM

Pizza & Spaghetti? Reminds me of the scene from Big Night when the lady orders of spaghetti with her risotto. I guess Palin likes starch.